Keith Lee Details Receiving 'Bearcat' Gimmick In WWE

In his recent appearance on Grapsody, AEW's Keith Lee talked about his 'Bearcat' gimmick in WWE - something which was apparently pitched to him before he had returned to the ring from serious health issues. Lee explained:

“So the Bearcat thing was presented to me before I came back from the whole death fight. And when it was presented to me, I was like, what and why? I initially said no thank you and they left it alone. I was like, cool. I’m in the clear. Like it can’t be that bad, right? I came, I debuted, I got to do the thing that no one else gets to, fr*ggin fight Randy Orton on my first pay-per-view [on the main roster].

“But not even a week or two after coming back, Vince pulled me in an office and was like, ‘Hey, listen. I need you.’ And I feel like that chick that’s got her crush. [...] I’m like, ‘What? You mean me? I would love to be there for you. I will fix you, Vince. I will do it!’

“And I agreed to do this thing, and man, when I tell you, it was interesting. Because they went through artwork for this gear and as it goes on, I’m like, 'I don’t know how I’m going to make this thing. But I’m going to do it because Vince asked me to.' And this was in the middle of a Raw; the guy completely abandoned the main event that was happening and dragged me into his office and was like, ‘Let’s talk.’ And I’m like, ‘You’re not gonna watch the rest of TV? What are you doing?’

“We had the conversation, and I agreed to do it. But at the end of the day, maybe not wanting to was an issue. Maybe I couldn’t deliver that character the way they would have wanted to because, at the end of the day, I’m not a generic, big guy. I’m not ooga booga.”

Lee also suggested that the way he talks could have been an issue, and that McMahon envisioned the character as more of an angry, intimidating persona. 

H/T to WrestleZone